In weather more like starting of winter in November than starting of spring in April, UP’s YJA65 job from S Janesville, WI to Beloit, WI and S Beloit IL made the rounds, only missing one recently active customer.
The first customer is Behr scrap yard with its sharp curve off the main to squeeze between buildings and Turtle Creek. They grabbed three cars and left the one closest to the 1479.
Next they went up to the DeLongs (former Demeters) elevator to grab around 30 loaded grain hoppers (with some bonus product on the roof of several). My next take of them was along St Paul Ave at Prospect St where a couple of ducks were having lunch on the tracks. GP60 1158 stopped right at the crossing as the rear end of the train cleared the connection switch at Stateline Jct. UP is on trackage rights here and they stopped to line the switch back for the CP. Both head end and rear were working pretty good to get the train rollingit’s up grade from here to the east, and then north on CP’s Janesville branch to get to the FM spur.
At Fairbanks Morse Park St entrance, as the rain had turned to a good snow, we see 1158 going in to grab the four flats loaded with new 48/60 prime movers, presumably for a Naval ship. I believe it’s the second engine behind 1158 that has become the 100th 48/60 engine FM built.
In a rather unusual move, they took the whole train up the CP Janesville line (possibly to avoid that long shove in the weather) instead of leaving it at Beloit Jct. The next catch I included the whole train as it crossed Colley Rd while running along a swollen Turtle Creek.
I wound up my last take with them back on their own trackage at Gustafson Rd as they worked their way up the grade to Clinton, where one more change of direction will take them to the yard at S Janesville. The last bit panning over to a very swollen Spring Brook, which the line follows from Beloit Jct to Clinton.
Hope you enjoyed this edition of the YJA65! It’s a bit long, but the unusual FM move should be interesting for many. Thanks for watching! Andy